Stock Market & Financial Investment News

On The Fly: Closing WrapStocks on Wall Street were higher on the day after positive news out of Washington regarding the fiscal cliff saw stocks surge back into the green near midday. The averages drifted just north of the flat-line for the remainder of the trading session before riding a late day rally to head into the weekend with modest gains, though not enough to keep them from finishing down on the week... ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., industrial production unexpectedly declined 0.4% in October, compared to forecasts for a 0.2% gain, though the Fed said that Superstorm Sandy cut total production by almost 1 percentage point... COMPANY NEWS: JPMorgan (JPM) and Credit Suisse (CS) both agreed to pay settlements relating to their sale of residential mortgage-backed securities. JPMorgan agreed to pay $297M, with most of that payment related to Bear Stearns actions, while Credit Suisse will pay $120M to settle the charges. Shares of JPMorgan edged up 14c, or 0.36%, to $39.53 on the day, while shares of Credit Suisse fell 43c, or 1.92%, to $21.94... Shares of PC maker Dell (DELL) traded down 72c, or 7.53%, to $8.84 after the company's quarterly results missed estimates on both the top and bottom lines... MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Penn National (PENN), up $10.62, or 28.24%, to $48.23 after announcing its intent to separate its gaming assets and real estate assets into two publicly traded companies. Also higher were shares of Schiff Nutrition (SHF), up $9.84, or 29.01%, to $43.76 after the Reckitt Bensicker commenced a tender offer to acquire the company for $42 per share, and Flower Foods (FLO), which rose $2.06, or 10.17%, to $22.32 after Hostess Brands said it would liquidate, which could allow Flower to gain market share or look at a deal to acquire Hostess assets. Among the noteworthy losers was Dynavax (DVAX), down $2.19, or 47.30%, to $2.44 after an FDA advisory committee voted that there was insufficient data to adequately support the safety of its Heplisav vaccine. Also trading lower were shares of Sears Holding (SHLD), down $10.99, or 18.79%, to $47.49, after the company reported its domestic comparable store sales declined 3.1% in Q3... INDICES: The Dow gained 45.93, or 0.37%, to 12,588.31; the Nasdaq rose 16.19, or 0.57%, to 2,853.13; and the S&P 500 added 6.55, or 0.48%, to 1,359.88.